Bedfordshire Police launch a new system to tackle hate crime

Bedfordshire Police have risen to seventh place for the number of hate crime convictions.

In the last few months of 2015, Beds police had a 94.1% rate of convictions for hate crimes, that figure rose from 73% from the year before.

This comes just weeks after the police force launched their first ever third party reporting centre which will act as a platform in communities for people to speak out against hate crimes and raise awareness to the issue as well as report any crimes in a safer environment.

They hope that this will combat the rise of Islamophobic, racist, elderly and homophobic attacks that have been on the increase over the last year.

Sergeant James Hart, dedicated hate crime lead for Bedfordshire Police said: “Putting an end to hate crime in our communities is a priority for Bedfordshire Police and we are working closely with partners to focus on the victim and provide a way to report any form of hate crime or incident to us in an environment victims feel most comfortable and most supported.”

These centres can be found at Mind BLMK in Bedford, The Disability Resource Centre in Dunstable, Tokko Youth Space in Luton, LGBT Links in Luton and Centre for Youth and Development (CYCD) in Luton.

Additionally, you can contact the police anonymously on 0800 555 111 to report a crime.